Thankful Landon!

Today we were out for a walk and we ran across some stairs which, of course, Landon wanted to play on. So I watched him go up the stairs and then when he was ready to go back down he realized the railing was way to high for him to reach. Normally, he would have turned around and crawled down if there wasn't something to hold on to, but this time he decided to take the step standing up without any kind of support. He took the first step really well and a big smile appeared on his face. Then he took the second step and he started clapping for himself. Then he finished the remaining four steps and at the bottom he folded his arms, bowed his head, closed his eyes, and said thank you, thank you, thank you..... Then up the stairs he went again. He did this over and over again....so proud of himself that he could step down the stairs without any help, and he always said a prayer of thanks at the bottom. Ryan and I were really wishing we had our video camera.

Baby Update

For those wondering, there haven't been any changes since I first found out I was dilating. I am now 28 weeks along so I'm sure everything will be fine. I'm still supposed to take it easy and go see my Dr. every 2 weeks, but I think I'm just one of those few women out there that starts dilating super early.

Mr. Landon is 18 months old!

Landon just turned a year and a half and although he's not talking a lot yet he does do some really cute things that make me smile and laugh throughout the day. He says, "yes" to almost every question you ask him unless it has to do with going to bed. He waves at everyone, blows kisses when you say you love him, knows all the hand movements to "The Wheels on the Bus", loves to march, gallop, run, and jump, hums different songs all day long, sometimes likes to say multiple prayers during eating times, and really gets excited when he gets to play with other kids. He also loves to do some grown-up things such as pretend he's talking on the phone, play with the computer, help unload the dishwasher (especially the knives), drive the car, and walk everywhere by himself (hates to hold hands or be held). He's becoming quite an independent little dude. Most of the time I'm thankful that he doesn't want my help, but sometimes it can be a little frustrating. He's been going to nursery now for a couple weeks and seems to really enjoy it. Hopefully, he'll continue to like it....I hope to enjoy the next couple months "baby free" during sunday school and young womens.

Our Little Dinosaur!

Here's Landon and his Mickey Mouse friend (Preston) hanging out at our ward trunk-or-treat on Halloween. As you can see Landon was really enjoying his lollipop.

Baby #2 wants to come out early

Yesterday I went in for my routine 24 week appointment and found out that my cervix has decided to open already. My doctor had me come back again today to check for changes. She thought that it may have changed a little so she sent me to the hospital to be monitored. I ended up being at the hospital for 4 hours while they checked for contractions and changes in the cervix. Thankfully, there were no changes so I was able to come home, but have to limit the amount of activity that I do and I have to go see my doctor more often. My next appointment is next week. If there are any changes then my doctor is going to put me on steroids. Hopefully this baby and my body will realize it's way to early and stop scaring me to death. All prayers are welcome. Thanks to my sister Cindy for coming to watch Landon for the day. She's AWESOME!

Lots of Fun!

We've been playing a lot the last couple of weeks. The first week of October we went on a family vacation to Indio, CA. It's about a seven hour drive south/east of where we live. It was pretty toasty the first few days, but was perfect for playing in the pool all day. Landon really enjoyed the big 1 foot deep wading pool. We also spent a day a Joshua Tree National Park which by no surprise has millions of Joshua Trees everywhere, some cool rock formations, and quite a few cool looking cactus. The last few days of our vacation Derick, Niesja,and Ethan came to join us. We all enjoyed going three miles straight up the mountain on the Palm Springs Aerial Tram. You go from being in the desert to the woods in a matter of minutes.



A few days after we returned home Lisa and Josh and family came to visit so the last few days we've been doing some fun things with them in Monterey. Yesterday we went to the Aquarium and the beach, and today we rode the paddle boats and played at Dennis the Mennis Park. Landon was pretty crazy on this long swinging bridge. I think he had much better balance than I did. ed.

Vote YES on Propostion 8

I know most who read my blog are not Californians, but this is an issue that is spreading throughout the world and if not stopped will eventually affect us all. Earlier this year 3 judges in San Francisco passed same-sex marriage in California. Now in November we have a chance to restore the definition of marriage as only between a man and a woman. I only hope that the voters of California make the right choice. Ryan and I have been knocking doors in our city on Saturdays to make people aware of the proposition, but some people just don't care. Too many feel that people should be able to do whatever they want. Here are some of the main reasons I feel same-sex marriage should not be allowed:

1. Children in public schools will have to be taught that same-sex marriage is the same as traditional marriage.

The California Education Code already requires that health education classes instruct children about marriage. (§51890) Therefore, unless Proposition 8 passes, children will be taught that marriage is between any two adults regardless of gender. There will be serious clashes between the secular school system and the right of parents to teach their children their own values and beliefs.

2. Churches may be sued over their tax exempt status if they refuse to allow same-sex marriage ceremonies in their religious buildings open to the public. Ask whether your pastor, priest, minister, bishop, or rabbi is ready to perform such marriages in your chapels and sanctuaries.

3. Religious adoption agencies will be challenged by government agencies to give up their long-held right to place children only in homes with both a mother and a father. Catholic Charities in Boston already closed its doors in Massachusetts because courts legalized same-sex marriage there.

All of these have already happened in areas that same-sex marriage is legal. Same gender couples are already given many of the same benefits that married couples get when it comes to taxes and other discounts that companies give. It makes me mad that they want to confuse children and change church policies. Vote Yes on Proposition 8.

Catching Up

I have been an awful blogger the last little while because for the last month or so any free time I have had I have wanted to lie down and take a little nap. Don't worry I'm not depressed or sick, my body is just busy making baby number 2. That's right, for those who haven't already heard I am now 15 weeks pregnant, due February 11. We are really excited to add another boy/girl to our family. Ryan is certain that we are having a girl. He's so certain that he's been betting people milkshakes and other things. We should find out when we have the ultrasound on September 10.

Last week we went on another quick trip to Utah for the third funeral this year. My Grandma Chris (my dad's mom) passed away. I was glad that I was able to go and attend the funeral and see all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. There were 41 out of 45 grandkids that were able to attend so it was really neat to be all together. I know my grandma is much happier now. She had already lost 2 of her legs due to diabetes and was ill the last few years of her life. It makes me happy that she gets to be with her husband who died of cancer when my dad was 10 years old, so I'm not going to do the math, but they've been separated a very long time.

While we were in Utah we were able to go to the Brigham pool. Landon absolutely loved running around in the water. He even thought it was fun when he fell down and went under, which made it so I constantly had to be watching him. This didn't make it a relaxing day at the pool, but he was being so funny that I didn't mind.

Last Friday we returned from Utah and then on Saturday Ryan's parents came to visit. We took them to Filoli. A mansion with acres and acres of gardens. We had a good time visiting and enjoying the beautiful grounds.


Here's a picture of all the Miller side cousins. They all look pretty tired because we didn't get to see my little brother Shane, his wife Kim and their 2 kids until 9:30 p.m. the night before we left.

4th of July Fun!

We celebrated the 4th of July by going to Ryan's parents house in Hollister. We had a fun time being outside and visiting with family. Landon especially loved exploring their huge yard and playing with Bobby, the poodle. We are thankful to live in this beautiful country and are proud to be Americans.

Here's a cute picture of Landon all dressed up ready to go to church.

Biking Adventures

So, about 2 months ago we were at REI and they were having a really good sale on bikes. Since we had been wanting to get bikes for awhile, we decided to go for it. We picked out a couple of the nicest mountain bikes we could find and were so excited to get to the trails. Too bad we didn't know how much work owning bikes can be. Here's a break down of our biking adventures or attempts to have a biking adventure.

First Biking Adventure
We went on a bike ride around Milpitas and I realized that we really don't live in the best location for bike riding, especially with a bike trailer that takes up the whole sidewalk making it so you have to ride on the road with the millions of cars. Kinda Scary! Our two-hour ride ended with my bike getting a flat tire and my pedal digging into my leg.

Second Biking Adventure (attempt)
We need to get my tire fixed so we go to Walmart to get some patches or a new tire and find out that they don't sale my type of bike tire. We called around to a couple of other stores and found that we would have to go back to REI (20 minutes away) to get my specific type of tire and a special pump to go with it. (At this point we were thinking we should have gotten a Swhinn).

Third Biking Adventure (attempt)
We load Ryan's bike to the rack on top of the car and put my bike inside the car and decide to go to a fun trail. Ryan forgot something that was in our other car so he drives into our parking garage to get it, but we both forget that the bike is on top of the car and SLAM (Garage is too low). His bike gets knocked of and we break our bike rack that we just bought.

Fourth Biking Adventure
Instead of using a bike trailer, we use a toddler seat on the bike and cruise around our town. We had fun.

Fifth Biking Adventure
My little sister was visiting so we took our bikes to Monterey and we went biking along the coast.
This was a lot of fun and we felt like we had finally gotten to a point where having bikes wasn't going to be a huge headache after all.

Two-Days After We Went to Monterey
Ryan goes to our storage unit to put something away and our bikes are gone. Someone stole them in the middle of the night. We want to cry!

Lessons Learned
We don't live in the best house to have bikes right now. We have decided to wait until we buy a house with our own garage that we can put a security system on. Also, we don't live in the best area for bikes. Our goal is to buy a house close to a nice bike trail next. And, don't buy really expensive bikes unless you want to buy all the special accessories with it. Last, Bikes are stolen a lot around here. If we would have known what a hot commodity they are we would have figured out a way to chain them up inside our storage unit and changed our locks (we didn't realize the builder put such cheap locks on our doors).

You can't say having a baby isn't a workout. I do a lot of lifting, bending, holding, and moving throughout the day, but still, sometimes I miss those butt-kicking workouts that make you feel like every muscle in your body is getting stronger and you just know your heart is getting healthier. I used to take spinning and kick-boxing from the college I was attending, but once I got pregnant I resorted to walking and then continued with walking even after Landon came. Don't get me wrong, I think walking can be a great workout if you push yourself, but I've kind of been in a slump. My walking has turned more into meandering. So, anyway, on Friday I attended a Free Baby Boot Camp class and discovered how out of shape I have become. This class keeps you going strong for 75 minutes. It's circuit-training so the trainer constantly has you doing something...lunges, push-ups, running laps, running stairs, squats..ect. And you do it all with your baby in a stroller. I wasn't sure if Landon would sit in a stroller for that long, but I guess we looked pretty funny because he would start laughing whenever we did lunges. I loved it so much I splurged and bought a 2 month pass that has classes twice a week. Hopefully this will get me back into strength training mode. I am still sore 3 days later which is pretty sad.

A couple of Landon's favorite things...

#1. Corn on the Cob

Landon amazes me at how well he eats corn on the cob. He'll sit and work on the thing until just about every kernel is gone.#2. Bridges

Landon LOVES bridges. After our walk today I let Landon play on this bridge. He went back and forth over the bridge for at least 20 minutes. He would have loved to keep playing, but I had to drag him to the car so we could get home for lunch.

The Great Outdoors!

This last weekend we went camping for the first time with Landon at the South Yuba River campground. It probably wasn't the best time to take Landon to live in the woods with him still being a bit wobbly, especially on uneven ground, but we still had fun. Well...at least I had fun..and I think Landon did too (He likes anything that has to do with being outside), but Ryan on the other hand has to have PERFECT conditions to have fun camping. This last weekend was a a little too warm and the mosquitoes wouldn't leave him alone, so he is now telling me that he won't go camping with me anymore. Not a huge deal since we only go camping maybe once a year anyway, but it is still kind of sad. I treasure the memories I have camping with my family when I was young. I will miss the good dutch oven food, sitting by the camp fire late at night, waking up to the birds chirping, and the feeling of freedom that comes from escaping from the busy world. Hopefully someday Ryan will change his mind, but for now I will enjoy the things that we both like to do.....We just purchased some mountain bikes so I'm really looking forward to trying them out. I've already found about 10 trails that look to be quite fun. Hopefully Landon likes it.

My little boy is growing up...

Landon turned 1 yesterday. We had an exciting day full of going to the park, seeing zoo animals, riding on a dragon train, playing with cousins, opening presents, and eating dragon cake. Landon's favorite book is called Dizzy Dragon, hence the reason for the cake. His favorite animal at the zoo was the goats. These goats loved attention and didn't mind if it was in the form of grabbing at their noses and pulling their hair. I think Landon's finger even went in their nostrils a few times.

Where did April go?

I can hardly believe it's almost May! This year is just flying by. Here are a few things that have been keeping us busy the last few weeks...

1. We went on another trip to Utah for the weekend. Ryan's grandma Hemingway passed away at 88 years old last week. I'm glad we were able to attend her funeral and visit with family.

2. Landon has been working hard at learning how to walk. He pushes, pulls, and drags his walker everywhere with him. Sometimes he'll get brave and decide to venture out without help. He's still a little wobbly, but getting better everyday.

3. My sister, Cindy and I purchased a yearly pass to the Oakland zoo. Jared loves to look at the animals. Allison likes walking around the zoo and notices a few of the animals and Landon could care less about the animals, but enjoys watching all the kids at the zoo.
Here's Landon, Jared, and I on the train ride through the zoo.

Cell Phones

We've all gotten on a plane, put our luggage in the overhead bins, and traveled to our destinations only to realize at the end of the flight that the cell phone never got turned off. "I guess it can't be too dangerous", you think as you walk off the plane. Well, I was curious as to the actual reason for the no cell phone rule and apparently there is some justification for not allowing cell phones to be used in the air. The biggest reason being that travelers are worried that flying will no longer be an escape from our noisy cell phone world. I couldn't agree more. Can you imagine a flight of a couple hundred people all talking on their cell phones? A part of me wishes that other places had the same rule. Everyone understands that you were not able to answer your phone when you tell them you were flying. It's too bad some people aren't so understanding when you tell them you are spending time with your family or in the middle of dinner. Maybe I'm the only one with this problem because Ryan gets so many calls every day. For the most part I've gotten used to calls interrupting our time together and most of the time I understand that the business we're in depends on a lot of talking on the phone, but every once in a while it would be nice to pretend we're flying and make a no cell phone rule.

HAWAII

We took so many pictures in Hawaii it was hard to choose which ones to post. Hopefully the ones I chose will help to tell about all the amazing things we saw and did. The week was pretty jammed packed with activities. I can honestly say that there was never a dull moment, especially with Landon. We were able to see 5 waterfalls, go on 4 hikes, go snorkeling, surfing, go on a private tour of Pearl Harbor (thanks to Tyler), go kayaking, swimming, visit with family, go to the punchbowl memorial, and see some other lookouts/attractions all in a week. We had an amazing time and can't wait until we can go back.